


Close Hearts, Many Miles

by Stupidgamer48



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, Mild Mentions of Blood, Shiro is a sap, and explosions, and so is keith, long distance!au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-08
Updated: 2016-08-08
Packaged: 2018-08-07 09:42:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7710265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stupidgamer48/pseuds/Stupidgamer48
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Takashi Shirogane and Keith Kogane are finally able to meet in person after almost seven years of being together, thanks to his friends. As Shiro sits in the airport waiting for Keith, he begins to reminiscence about the events that lead up to this moment. As he thinks about the past, however, his own insecurities about his arm begin to surface as well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Close Hearts, Many Miles

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fic dedicated to an amazing artist on tumblr: lordzuuko. She always does such an amazing job and is one of the most genuinely nice people I have ever seen. I wanted to give back to her in anyway I could and her long distance!au was perfect.

Shiro bounced his foot impatiently and rapidly, a nervous tick to try and calm the anxiety and excitement that was beginning to fill his body. Here he sat, in the middle of one of the busiest airport in America, waiting to meet the one person he wished more than any to hold: Keith. He’s been anticipating this day for years now so to finally have it happen is like a dream. Shiro felt a smile tug at his lips as he thought about how this all came to be.

They met through a program that the Garrison created for the cadets in order to get them to form bonds and learn to make connections with people distributed all across the country. Takashi “Shiro” Shirogane was assigned to speak with Keith Kogane and….they were vastly different to say the least. Shiro was the embodiment of the perfect soldier with a kind nature while Keith was very gruff and fit more for the category of an angsty teen than a member of the Army.

When they were first introduced to each other Shiro was quick to notice that the other was surprisingly attractive. His eyes, though dulled by the monitor, still were a striking indigo. His hair stood at lengthy mess but it suit his narrow face and lax personality. The remainder of their conversation, though, continued with a very stiff air filled with the usual formalities one would give to a stranger in a setting where they are forced to mingle. Shiro was quick to discover how aloof Keith was when it came his approach to everything. Almost like he couldn’t be bothered to deal with something he deemed useless. He rarely gave him a straight answer and when he did they were short with enough information to pacify Shiro.

After a month or so past, however, Shiro was beginning to notice how closed off Keith really was. The bored look on his face was accompanied by a clenched jaw and furrowed brow while his once carefree shrug seemed stiffer. His answers became shorter than they already were and he no longer bothered to look at Shiro. Instead focusing his attention off screen or at something that was in the background. 

This wasn’t healthy to be this closed off, Shiro decided, but he wasn’t sure why he focused so much time on this boy. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but there was something about the boy that kept his attention. He wanted to learn more about him but, as things were, he couldn’t even get the time of day out of him. It took him a lot of coaxing, but, eventually Shiro broke down his walls and got Keith to talk to him-really talk to him. It shouldn’t have made Shiro as happy as it did.

They became very close after that. Scheduling their call times so they are able to interact almost every day. Shiro helped Keith with his stances in combat and his assignments the best he could while Keith took on the responsibility of making sure Shiro doesn’t work himself into the ground. Despite the miles that separated them, they were like the perfect machine: working in such unison even with the distance it left even the highest officials that knew them baffled.

Eventually Shiro graduated from basic Garrison training and aced the Medical exams to become a field medic. However, this meant he would no longer be able to contact Keith through the program. He had moved up in the ranks and would soon be going on assignments and tours, making it difficult to schedule times to sit down and talk to Keith. A few days before he was set to leave, the two made one last call.

Keith appeared pretty awkward and withdrawn throughout most of the call. Shiro remembers feeling a bit let down because he didn’t want to leave things like that before he left. But just before Shiro hung up, Keith stopped him with a huff “Gah! Wait, you idiot. How the hell am I suppos’ to make sure you don’t work yourself to death if I can’t reach you? ‘Cause like hell ‘m I trusting you to do that by yourself. Gi’me your number.”

Despite his brash words, Keith’s face was dusted with a light shade of pink that made Shiro’s heart melt even to this day. With a fond smile, they exchanged contact information. Soon after, they were talking through skype and text in most of their free time. There was the occasional call but those were few and far between.

When Shiro finally started his tours, Keith made sure to send care packages whenever he could to help make Shiro feel better. He knew he was constantly stressed out and needed to have some luxuries to get through some of the things he had to burden. Keith tried his best to play them off but the redness on his ears always gave him away. The love Shiro felt from him was overwhelming whenever he got a new one.

After about a year of this, Shiro contacted his mother and asked her to help make a care package of his own. A thank you one to send to Keith for being as doting as he was. He made sure to tell her to include the two most important things into the package: his high school letterman jacket and his favorite beanie.

Call him a sap, but Shiro wanted to share something special with Keith. About a week after his mother sent the package he received a skype call from a very flustered and visibly red Keith. He kept calling him an idiot for sending it because “I don’t need to be thanked, dumbass!” and “Why would I wear your letterman?! I’m not a teenager!” But, Shiro could see the jacket was already hanging off his shoulders and his eyes couldn’t hide his delight. Keith was just as much of a sap as Shiro was, he just tried to hide it more.

Things continued like this until Shiro moved back into the city after his tours. Once home, they tried to meet in person as soon as they were able. However, something always seemed to come up that would put a halt to their plans. They both were frustrated but knew they couldn’t do anything to fix it. They just tried their best to work around it and attempt to meet another time.

After a few years of bad luck and many more failed attempts, the boys were beginning to get disheartened. But with the help of Coran and Allura, they were able to pull some strings with the Altea Company her father owned to allow them to send Keith on one of their commercial airlines; with the assurance that there would be no problems. Those two managed to tell everyone else about Keith’s arrival and gave them the responsibility of getting them in the same building. Though, they just so happened to neglect to tell Shiro they got him to come to California until they were pulling into the airport parking lot. He was a bit peeved at them for keeping it a secret but his joy far outweighed his annoyance. 

And now, here they sat, waiting to for the arrival of Keith’s flight…while listening to Shiro’s leg shake non-stop since they’ve found this spot to sit. While he was elated about finally getting to meet Keith in person, he had one thing nagging at the back of his mind. Causing his leg to shake more as his anxiety intensified. Allura, growing more annoyed with the rapid tapping of his boot, slammed her hand down onto his knee, forcing it to stay in place “Shiro, you are going to cause an earth quake if you keep doing that. Stop shaking it so much.” She willed her scolding tone to ease into a softer one “Everything will be fine. He is just as excited to meet you as you are for him. Please, try to relax.”

Pidge, using Shiro as a back rest as she typed away, snorted from behind her computer screen “I’m pretty sure Shiro doesn’t know the meaning of relaxing, let alone know how to do it.”

Shiro let out a nervous chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck as he ruffled Pidge’s hair, earning a displeased yelp “Sorry, everyone. It’s just… I’ve been waiting for this day for so long…I can’t thank you all enough for helping make this happen…But…”He glared down at his right arm. It was metallic. A prosthetic given to him by a former friend of Allura’s father after an attack several years ago. 

It happened when he was on his last tour with Pidge’s brother, Matt, and her father. He was in the middle of a war stricken village. They were sent there to tend to the wounded and evacuate the citizens before the fighting that was occurring nearby crossed into their land any further. He was moving to get the last of the people out as quickly as possible with Matt when one of the enemies breached their barricade. He remembers the explosion… the pain and confusion as he was knocked off of his feet…there was so much screaming and blood… 

Shiro grimaced, clutching his hand into a fist. It hurt just thinking about what happened. The only good thing about it was that he managed to push Matt out of the way of the blast, leaving him unharmed. Shiro wasn’t so lucky. In the explosion, Shiro was frayed by shrapnel that was tucked away inside the bomb. His right arm received the blunt of the assault. The doctors were unable to save it.

When he told Allura what happened to him, she contacted her father to ask him to give Shiro the arm he had been helping build. The process of getting the experimental device connected to his body’s nervous system was some of the worst pain he’d ever experienced. It was a difficult time and he only managed to get through it because of his friends.

However, Shiro never really told Keith about it…It was not something he ever wanted to talk about. Keith knew why his last tour was short (he threatened to kick Shiro’s ass through his tears for making him worry) but he never told him the whole story… nor did he ever show him the prosthetic. He was grateful to Allura for helping him but he hated the arm. No matter how many times he tried to brush it off to all those who asked, it made him feel incomplete. Less of a person. Keith deserved someone better…

“Shiro,” Allura reached forward and pulled his right hand towards her, clasping it between her own “Nothing, and I repeat, nothing, will ever make Keith change his mind about you. I promise this.”

“Yeah, dude!” Lance piped up, wrapping his arm around Shiro’s broad shoulders as he forced himself between Shiro and Pidge, causing the latter to fall off the bench and onto Hunk, who was sitting comfortably on the floor “Keith’s hard headed, but he ain’t selfish like that. You think he would turn around after flyin’ all the way over here because of this” he gestured to Shiro’s prosthetic “then you’re absolutely crazy.”

“Allura and Lance are right, Shiro.” Hunk groaned as Pidge pushed herself off him to lunge at Lance “If Keith cared about appearances like that, he would have made it known by now. You’ll be fine.” 

Shiro smiled weakly at his friends (or, what remained of them, for Pidge was piggybacking on Lance while he tried to shake her off on the other side of the hall) “Thanks, guys. I know I’m being ridiculous…I’m just scared. I’ve waited for this for so long… WE waited for this for so long…I don’t want anything to ruin this for us…”

With a jagged sigh, Shiro stood up “I’m gunna go outside…get some air…” his nerves were starting to get the better of him. He was having trouble breathing. Thinking about the rougher part of his past… it was beginning to be too much, his heart couldn’t take it. What if Keith saw the scar on his face and body and decide they were worse in person or that his prosthetic was far too unnerving. Unnatural. He’ll be disgusted. Horrified. He would realize how broken Shiro would be when-

“Takashi?” 

Shiro was stopped before he even started walking out. He knew that voice. The soft Korean accent that hid itself under his speech. The name he only allowed him to say seemed to be a breath out of his mouth.  


When he turned he saw nothing but the rough around the edges love of his life: Keith Kogane.

His breath left his lungs and the world seemed to fall away. Everything was blurred except for the two of them. Keith was dressed in a simple red shirt and black jeans with a familiar letterman around his waist. His hair was in its’ usual disarray under Shiro’s beanie. He looked exhausted but, to Shiro, it was the most beautiful sight in the world. Before he knew it, he was running. Running towards the one that held his heart for the past seven years. 

He didn’t know how quickly he bolted across the hall nor where the bags Keith was carrying went but it didn’t matter. In his arms, pressed tightly against his chest in a great hug that sent them both spinning around, was Keith. His heart, his soul, his everything. He buried his face into the crook of his neck, smelling citric and wood. For the first time in years, he felt whole.

When he looked up again the smile-when did he start smiling- on his own face seemed to grow even bigger when he saw Keith’s indigo eyes staring back down. The crinkle in his nose that only showed up when Keith was brimming with emotion was more pronounced than it has ever been before.

Keith started laughing uncontrollably when he saw the dorky, puppy dog look that had overtaken Shiro’s features. He continued to laugh as the realization of his situation hit him. Here, holding him in the middle of a busy airport, was the love of his life. He quickly cupped Shiro’s jaw with his hands, placing as many kisses as he could all over his face; his forehead, cheeks and the scar on his nose before placing the sweetest kiss he could muster onto his lips.

Shiro felt his heart race and his brain stop. The kiss made the already distant world stop. Nothing else existed except for those two. Shiro smiled into the kiss even more, meeting his lips in earnest. It was so much better than he could have ever dreamed. He was quickly becoming overwhelmed again. But, this time, these emotions were so much better. There was no need to be scared anymore.

As he broke away for some much needed air, Keith’s smile seemed to falter into that of confusion when he caught a glimpse of metal to his left. When he pulled back enough to examine what he’d spotted, he was able to make out that the metal was actually the cover of a prosthetic arm; one of the two arms holding him up. Shiro bit his lips as he shifted uncomfortably, finally setting Keith back down so his feet actually touched the floor.

A heavy silence fell between them as Keith stared down at the metal arm. The world started to move again around them as they continued that way for a few moments. Hesitantly, Keith reached forward to place his hand on its’ smooth surface. Shiro could hear himself hold his breath as Keith’s fingers ghosted along his arm. Slowly sliding down until he reached his fingers.

Shiro was vaguely aware that the others had gone quiet. Even Lance felt no need to make a comment. Their usual background banter was put on hold as Keith gently brought the hand closer to his face to examine it. Turning it over to get a better view of the more complicated metal work on the palm.

Keith let his finger trace along one of the joints at the knuckle before bringing it to follow the line that was the connection between two separate sheets of metal. A shiver ran up Shiro’s spine at the gentleness of the touch. It was unfamiliar. Foreign. He rarely let people touch his right hand with their flesh to his metal. He wasn’t comfortable with it. He usually hid it under a glove. He didn’t want people to stare at him more than the already did, nor did he want them to touch him.

He probably would have come to the airport in his usual outfit of a long sleeved jacket and gloves; but the others somehow convinced him “since we were just going to be running a quick errand” he “didn’t need to wear all of that stuff.”

Shiro snorted at the memory of them trying to assure him “We’ll be in and out real quick! You don’t even need to leave the car!” He didn’t blame them, to be honest. They probably were meant to leave earlier in the day to get to the airport on time but they were way behind schedule, if the yelling from Allura’s side of the call she made was any indicator on how slow they were. So, instead he kept his own fitted shirt on and was now waiting with baited breath as Keith closely examined his arm, the last thing he wanted him to see.

All at once, his insecurities flooded back into his mind:

“He won’t want you anymore.”

‘Stop it.’

“You’re broken.”

‘Shut up.’

“No one wants a broken toy. You’re nothing to him now.”

‘No!’

Keith took notice of the tense posture Shiro had undertook, letting his eyes glance up to catch sight of Shiro’s face. It was a complicated mess of panic and fear that he tried to hide behind a smile. Keith, with as much love has he could muster, kissed the middle of his palm before bringing it to rest against his chest right where his heart was. As he leaned forward to allow his head to lay against Shiro’s chest, he couldn’t stop the smile that spread across his face. Closing his eyes as the rapid heartbeat solidified everything for him “It’s not a dream…’m really here with you…”

When he pushed himself far enough away to look up at him, the smile that Shiro tried to maintain faltered as he let out a choking sob before sinking to the ground, clutching Keith closer as he pulled him onto his lap. Almost as though if he let go Keith would disappear. Shiro let his head fall to rest in the space between Keith’s shoulder and neck. He didn’t move or say anything.

Keith was worried when he felt his shoulder grow damp with tears. Scared he had done something wrong, he began to panic until he felt Shiro’s lips mouth against his skin “I love you…So…So much.”  
With a soft smile, Keith wrapped his arms around Shiro’s large frame, cradling the back of his head as he finally allowed himself to cry as well “I love you too, Takashi…”

**Author's Note:**

> I unfortunately started writing this a few days before she gave out the particulars of her AU so some of them had to be omitted from the fic. I tried my best to put some of them in here, though!  
> Lordzuuko, if you see this, I really hope you likee it. I wanted to do something to make you as happy as your art has made me. Your blog always brings a smile to my face and brightens my day. You inspire me to be better and prouder of my own works. To keep trying and create things that make me happy.  
> I hope you all enjoyed it! :)


End file.
